Counter tray construction



Feb. 23, 1932. J. GUTHRIE 1,846,862

COUNTER TRAY CONSTRUCTION Filed March 1'7, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1AT'roRNEY Feb. 23, 1932. J, GUTHRlE 1,846,862

COUNTER THAT CONSTRUCTION `Filed Marh 1'7, 1930 2-Sheets-Sheet 2 f @yaPatented Feb. 23, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN GUTlHRIE, OFFOREST'HILLS, NRW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO J'. C. PENNEY COMPANY,

',INC., OE NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK O GOUNTER TRAYCONSTRUCTION Appuaaon me@ umn 17, 1930. semi No. 436,312.

This invention relates to store furniture and is concerned moreparticularly with partition equipment for sub-dividing the top of acounter or table into a plurality of compartments fordisplaying'merchandise.

In department stores, particularly in those departments where notionsand other small articles are handled, it is the customary practice toplace the merchandise on display on the tops of the counters or tableswhere the various articles can be examined by customers. Numerousexpedients have been emloyed for providing compartments or trays orholding the articles but most of these devices with which I am familiarhave not been wholly satisfactory because they are .either iniiexible sothat they cannot be readily arranged to produce compartments of varyingsize or else the equipment is somewhat elaborate and expensive. f

The object of the present invention is 'to provide partition equlpmentfor the purpose describedv which is simple in construction,`

inexpensive to manufacture, readily assembledand dismantled and capableof a wide variation in the dimensions of the compartments providedthereb The equipment of this invention may be installed on the top ofthe ordinary counter or table or else secured to a base which rests ontop of the counter, thus providing a complete tray, the interior ofwhich can be sub-divided as desired. When the equipment rests directlyon top of a pounter, it can be removed therefrom and replaced as a unit,thus permitting the counter and the parts of the equipment to be easilycleaned and kept in proper condition. Similarly, when the equipmentprovdes a complete tray, it may be moved about as a unit, and thepartition means lifted clear of the base to permit cleaning of thelatter.

For a better understanding of the invenvent'ion, reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in end elevation andartly in section showing the equipment of t e invention in use on thetop of a counter;

- Fig. 2 is a view of a. portion of the equip- 50 ment:

.may be slipped over the cross member 17 of Fig. 3v is a sectional viewon the line 3- 3 of v Fig. 2 `igs. 4, 5, and 6 are perspective views ofdetalls of the equipment; l

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 '65 vof Fig.2;

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a detail;

. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a modified form of theconstruction;

Fig. 10vis a sectional view on an enlarged scale, showing a portionofthe corner construction; and i v Fig. 11 is a view in perspective of adetail ofthe equipment illustrated in Fig. 9.

v Referring now'to the drawings, the equipment is shown in Fig. 1 in aform suitable for installation on the flat top 10 of a counter, anditincl-ucles side rails 11 secured together at their corners and forming`a frame of a size suiiicient to lit down over the edges of the counter.On the inner face of each rail is secured a Z-bar 12, one leg of the barbeing secured to the inner face of a rail 11 by screws 13,'whi1e theother leg 14 extends vertically in spaced relation to the inner face ofthe rail near its top.' The Z-bar rovides an edge support along theoutlines o? the space to be sub-divided. In the space between the leg 14of the bar and the inner face of the rail is mounted 'a wall member 15which is preferably'a plate of glass of thedesired height. The adjacentrail sections 11 are connected at their corners by a corner fittinggenerally designated 16and secured to the inner faces of adjacent rails.This fitting has a cross piece 17 at its top extending across the anglebetween the rails, and it is provided with-corner guides 18 whichsupport the wall elements 15 at the corners of the frame. Each cornerguide has an inner and an outer face portion 19 and 20, respectively,and from one of these portions extends a plate 21 of triangular form,this plate having its free edge -22 bent back upon itself so that thecorner member the corner fitting 16, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The-crossmember 17 thus supports the corner fitting upright. The wall elements 15form the outer walls of the equipment and the space ldened by thesewalls is then sub-divided into a plurality of merchandise compartmentsby other partitions.

The merchandise space is sub-divided into a plurality Vof maincompartments which extend entirely across or lengthwise of the counteras` may be desired. Each of these main partitions includes a wallelement 23 in the form of a plate of glass or the like, and the plate issupported in a channel member 24 which extends either across the counter0r from end to end thereof. The channel member is made of a strip ofmetal shaped to U section and at its ends, the bottom wall of the memberhas atout-out 25 beyond which the side walls are shaped to form a pairof ripping tongues 26, the inner faces of whic are recessed. Mounted atthe end of each channel member is an end fitting generally designated27. This fitting includes a plate 28 having a portion 29 at one endthereof bent upwardly and then folded upon itself to'provide adownwardly extending flange 30, and mounted on the face of the plateagainst the upstanding portion is an end guide 31 for the partition.This guide has side walls 32, the distance between which is such thatthe partition 23 may be received therein with a snug fit. Near itsbottom, each side wall 32 has a tongue cut therefrom and folded backu'pon itself to provide a projection 33 adapted to engage in a recess inone of the gripping members 26.

When a main partition is to be placed in position, its end fittings 27are mounted at opposite sides of the counter on the edge supports l2.For this purpose, the downwardly extending flange 30 of each fitting isslipped over the edge of the upstanding leg 14 of the Z-bar in themanner illustrated in Fig. 2. The space between the Z-bar and the innerwall of the rail 1l is such that the outer partitions l5 are in place inthe space, there is no' diiiiculty in mounting the end fittings 27 onthe Z-bar. After both end fittings are mounted on edge supports alongopposite edges of the counter, a channelmember 24 of proper length ismounted on these'ittings. The cut-outs 25 in the channel member aresufficiently wide to receive the upstanding portions of the end fittingstherein, the tongues 33 on each fitting entering recesses 26 in thegripping portions of a channel member. The wall member 23 is then placedin the channel member and end fittings, the wall resting loosely in theIchannel member but being supported upright in the guide portions of thetwo end fittingsL By the installation of a plurality of main partitions,the space on the counter is subdivided into lengthwise or transversecompartments. Ordinarily it is desirable to subdivide these compartmentsinto smaller ones and for this purpose minor partitions may be employed.Each minor partition includes a wall member 34 of plate glass or thelike,

a channel member 24 and end fittings 27.

.Each end fitting is mounted either on the the entire width of thecounter as may e desired. These main partitions are supported inchannelmembers attachedto end ttingsfitf ting loosely on the Z-bars sothat the partitions can be installed at any point along the length ofthe Z-ba'rs, thus providing compartments of any selected width. Similarlthe main compartments can be sub-dividd into as many minor compartmentsas may be desired, since the partitions which define the minorcompartments are mounted in ittin s which can be placed at any positionlengt wise of the channel member of a main partition that may bedesired.

The entire equipment can be removed from the counter by lifting theframe made up of the rails 1l since the Z-bars are attached to theserails and the partition members are mounted either onthe Z-barsor elseon other supports which are attached to those mounted on the Z-bars.This provides a .convenient manner of transferring the equipment fromone counter to another and of cleaning the counter top withoutdisarranging the partitions whch define the individual compartments.

In some instances, it may be desired to pro-A vide the equipment with abottom to rest on top of the counter. Such a construction -isillustrated in Figs. 9,'10, and 11. For this purpose, a base 35 is used,Iliade up of suitable matched boards preferably provided with edgemembers 36 dove-tailed or otherwise secured thereto. Along the inneredge of the counter below the top thereof is provided a rail 37 from theupper face of which extend dowel pins 38 at suitable intervals, the rearedge member 36 of the base having openings in which the pins may bereceived so that the equipment is anchored in lace on the counter.Instead of employing e ge supports in the form of Z-bars at the edges ofthe counter, the edge supports take the form of channel members 39,these channels having tongues 40 struck from theirV bottom walls whichenter recesses 4l formed in the edge members 36. The channel memberslead to corner fittings 18 `of the construction previously deedge member36 ofthe base to hold the corner fitting in position. Main partitionsare then mounted in place as before, the end fitting of each artitionbeing engaged with the inner v tions are then supported in place in thesame manner as in the first construction. With the modified arrangement,the equipment provides a plurality of trays, the walls of which may beadjusted to provide compartments of varying size.

It willbe seen that the equipment includes a few simple parts which areof inexpensive construction. The fittings and channel members are madeof sheet metal and can be pro-- duced in quantity at little cost. Thepartitions are preferably of plate glass, although other material may beemployed if desired. Ordinarily the channel members will be of varyinglengths so that compartments of selected dimensions may be provided butif compartments of some special size are desired, these can be readilyproduced by cutting the channel members to the desired length and thenforming the cut-outs 25 and shaping the gripping tongues at the ends, asillustrated in Fig. 5. These operations are quite simple and can beperformed wlthout elaborate equipment.

While the equipment of this invention has been described as used forsub-dividing the top of a counter or table into main compartmentsextending completely lengthwise of the counter or across the latter withminor partitions sub-dividing the main compartments, it will be apparentthat the use of the minor partitions can be continued indefinitely andin some instances the space on the counter top may be divided intocompartments of as small a size as 2 by 4 inches. 4The partitions whichform the'minor compartments will, in someinstances, be mounted on thechannel members of mam compartment members or on one of these channelmembers and an edge support along the side of the counter, while inother cases the minor partition members may eX- tend between anotherpair of minor partition members, being mounted on the channel membersthereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a container having a base, channels thereon and wall sectionssupported in said channels to form an enclosure, means for subdividingsaid enclosure comprising a wall section, fittings each comprising meansfor attaching it to a channel, means for supporting a corner of saidywall section and means for supporting one end of a channel member, and achannel member comprising a channel for enclosing an edge of said wallsection, and means on said channel member and fitting for attaching themember to a fitting.

2. -In a container having a base, channels thereon, corner fittings atthe corners thereof and wall sections supported in said channels 1 i andcorner fittingsA -to form an enclosure, means. for subdividinflr saidenclosure comprlsing a wall section, fIttlngs each comprlslng means forattaching it to a channel,'means for 1 supporting a corner of said wallsection and means for supporting one end of a channell member, and achannel member comprising a channel for enclosing an edge of said wallsection and means on said channel member andfitting for attaching themember toa fitting, said channel member being of U shape so as tosupport additional fittings in the same manner' as the channels on thebase.

3. In a container for use in connection with a fiat topped support, abase formed to surround the top edges of the support and be supportedthereon, channels and corner fixtures uponl said base supporting wallsections to form an enclosure surrounding said flat topped support,means for subdividing said enclosure comprising a wall section, fittingseach comprising means for supporting it from a channel on said base andmeans for supporting acorner of said wall section .and means forsupporting one end of a channel member; and a channel member comprisinga'channel for enclosing an edge of said wall section and meansvon saidchannel member and fitting for attaching said member to a fitting.

4. Ina container for use in'connection with a flat topped support, abase formed to surround the top edges of the support and be supportedthereon, channels andvcorner fixtures upon said base supporting wallsections to form an enclosure surrounding said fiat topped support,means for subdividing said enclosure comprising a wall section, ttingseach comprising means for supporting it from a channel on said base andmeans for supporting a corner of said wall section and means forsupporting one end of a channel member; and a channel member comprisinga channel for enclosing an edge of said wall section and means on saidchannel member and fitting for attaching said member to a fitting, saidchannel member being U-shaped so as to support additional fittings inthe same manner as the channel on the base.

5. In partition equipment the partitions of which comprise wall sectionswith their lower edges enclosed in U-shaped members, a fitting forsupporting one partition upon another which comprises a pocket shaped toenclose and support a corner of a wall section, a hook shaped memberadapted to hook over the edge of a U-shaped member to support thefitting thereon, and means receiving and supporting the end of anotherU-shaped'memberin position to enclose an edge of the wall sectionextending into the pocket of said fitting.

6. In partition equipment a fixture comprising means to receive andSupport the cor ner of a partition and means for engaging and supportinga channel member which encloses an edge of said partition and means forengaging another channel member for supporting itsel,lthe firstmentioned channel member and the artition,

' 7. In partition equipment a ttin com-V prising means to receive andsupport t e corner of a partition and means or engaging and supporting achannel member wlncliy en- 10 closes an edge of said partition and meansfor engaging another channelmember at right angles to the first forsupporting itself, the channel member and the artition. i

In testimony whereof' v ax my signature. k JOHN GUTHRIIE.

